a week with music

The new year started off with me relishing a wonderful concert and the entire week continued with that same elavating experience. The past one week I have met, spoke to and seen upclose and personally some of the most well known people in the field of carnatic classical music. I also went through some prominent changes in this last week.

The most important was in the way I appreciated carnatic music. Sitting amongst well versed students of a very great singer, cuddled up with a special frnd, getting to know the different aspects of the concert, has added a diffent dimension to my feeling and enjoing carnatic music.

I started to look at todi raga in a different sense, rather was show to see it in a different way; for me it was always a sober raga but Ravikiran painted an altogether different picture on his gotuvadyam. I got introduced to a superb singer, TM Krishna, a man with a voice that scales 3 octaves with ease, with a ring in it as clear and strong as a brass bell, whose knowledge and creativity in music is so good that people have modified songs which praise the lord krishna and they sing it in praise of TM Krishna! I also got to speak to and take the blessings of Kanyakumari, the first one to get on to my list of favourite violinists. It was a night that I shall remember, I still shiver just thinking about it. She is one of the most sweetest and charming lady I have met.

I also got to see a yaga and yagna for the ragas. It was a very pleasent and new experience for me to see scores of people singing in unison; and then later on all of them got to have lunch and leave. It was close to 3000 people! I have never been to a tyagaraja aradhana but this is how it would be I think, a goosebumpy and thrilling experience!

I was also enlightened on the fact that the richness of Mysore's artful people has not yet been completely wiped off. After watching the divine brothers, Mysore Nagaraj and Dr.Manjunath, I am glad to say all the great musicians are all not in Tamilnadu :-), we still have some left in mysore who can lift you to heaven. They brought so much of emotion into the music that I was moved to tears, once in an alap and again in one of the "neravals". As RKP sir said, this is a concert unforgettable for ten years, but to me it will be unforgettable for life, the day I got the first glimpse of these 2 gods on stage. They right now top the list of my fav violinists.

The last day was a different program, a dance drama presentation of the story of Vadiraja. it was simple but very tasteful and creatively done. It was a special program in more than one way for me but we wont go there here. It shall suffice to say, I was overjoyed watching it all.

This is one week where I got to meet legends that are and legends that are going to be, where I made a few new friends and have had a week filled with happyness every single day!